Afterstrife
by cynical camp boy
Summary: After the events of Understrife, the monsters push their way out of the Underground. Frisk wants to end the war, and with enough patience, bravery, integrity, perseverance, kindness, justice, and determination, they know that, one day, there will be peace between the monsters and humans. Some day. (Understrife!AU made by me, cover art by me, Toby Fox owns Undertale, not me.)
1. New Beginning

Humans weren't concerned with the war. Why would they need to worry? After all, they were winning it for sure. And they grew so bold that they created their camps outside of the Exit, preparing for a final attack. Scouts stationed on the high watch towers overlooking that deep dark pit grew ever lazier, and they were going to pay with their lives. Thumping began to sound from deep within the caverns. It was probably nothing... It began to grow louder and louder, and that was when the humans began to care, staring into that cave and preparing their forces. An army of monsters approached, and for a few moments, human and monster stared at each other, unmoving. The head of the monster army was in full armor, a green heart plated onto her chest, and a plume of bright red hair upon her helmet's head. A single yellow eye glowed from behind the slits of her helmet, and she raised an arm, weighed down with her metal armor. She twisted her arm, flipping a spear out of her magic and hurling it into the human lines.

With that, the battle began, and the monsters were determined not to lose this time. Reveling in war was not something Frisk would do, but clinging on to a huge arrow-like skull that blasted through the air with a skeleton assassin at their side about one hundred feet in the air, they had no option. They lifted a hand from clinging onto the blaster's maw to cover their eyes as a laser bled out of its mouth and slammed into the humans below, tearing through their ranks. Sans yelled over the sound of the fighting below as he set off another shot, more spears darting into the human army, "Liking the rush yet, kid? Well this is war! You need to get used to it!" Frisk shook their head as well as they could against the freezing wind that cut at their ears like knives. They needed to get used to this, they agreed with Sans there, but did they need to like it? Definitely not. "Aw well! Hold on tight kid! We're diving!" He laughed, and gave Frisk little more warning than that as the blaster tipped nearly vertically, blasting downwards, cutting through the sky. "Cover your eyes!" Frisk heard Sans say as they slammed into the ground.

Frisk could hear Undyne shouting taunts at the humans, and the very commander of the monster army herself jumped out with a loud clank, jabbing her spear into another human and flicking them off as if they were a bug. They might as well have been bugs, seeing how pissed Undyne seemed and how easily she was killing them. Frisk didn't understand something, though. Why were the monsters losing if they could do this? Sans whipped away the dirt and dust that had been flung up from their impact in the ground, letting out a cheer. "HELL YEAH! Come on fish lady, let's wreck some fuc-" A blast went off, blotting the rest of Sans' words out before Frisk could hear them. Frisk got up slowly, rubbing their head and nearly yelping when they realized that they were sitting in a crater. Oh sweet Angel, how hard did they hit the ground?! Sans ran off with Undyne at his side, whipping a blue colored bone into his hand and swinging it as he ran. He was... Disturbingly cheerful in the face of death. But Frisk supposed they should have already known that. They climbed out of the crater, trying to avoid stepping on the bodies of the dead. It sent chills up their spine. A hand suddenly caught Frisk's wrist, and they yelped, attempting to yank themselves away, to no avail.

It was odd to see a familiar face that was human when you had lived with monsters for six months, apart from Chara, who had disappeared one day and never came back without a notice to anyone. It was their old instructor from the top of Mount Ebott. That was a place the monsters had managed to take back, the peak of the mountain. Frisk could still smell the burial fires, even now. It seemed that he had escaped... And his eyes were wide, asking Frisk how they were alive after being dragged into the Underground like a ragdoll. But they didn't have a chance to answer when a blare of hot fire slammed into him, followed by a golden slice. He let go of their arm, turning to face Toriel, her face the picture of fury. "Don't... _Touch my child!_ " She yelled, knocking Frisk behind her before whipping her cape out, covering her target. Toriel jabbed her firey sword straight through him, from what Frisk was able to figure out. She swiftly turned to scoop Frisk up, sheathing the hilt of her sword and holding them over her shoulder. "I shouldn't leave you with Sans in the middle of a battle. I told him just to let you watch! Not drop you into danger!" Toriel said. "Come on. Stay near the Exit with Alphys. She has the turrets set up. You'll be safe there." Toriel told Frisk, marching through the ranks of monsters to the Exit. Frisk knew that she was going to give Sans a very, very stern talking to that he wouldn't even listen to after this battle. If they won.

With one hand to hold Frisk, Toriel whipped out her hilt again, growing a fire blade and slicing it at a human who decided to make the mistake of facing her, nearing the Exit. Get one-shotted. "Mom, I have a question." Frisk said to her, staring at the body of the poor soldier.

"What is it, my child?" She asked them, passing the barrage of turrets that Alphys has spent time setting up. Toriel knew that if Frisk spoke, she better listen, because Frisk usually never spoke.

"... Why are we losing, even when we have monsters that can do... Stuff like that?" Frisk asked, pointing up at the beams rolling from the mouth of a blaster that Sans had decided to take to the air with. Frisk winced, watching him carefully and biting their lip to keep themselves from yelling to not let go of his blaster. He was completely vertical to the ground. Toriel put a gentle hand on their face, turning their gaze to her.

"Numbers, Frisk. They can overwhelm us with just how many humans they have in their army. Frisk, they have billions of people. We have little more than the smallest fraction of their forces in our entire population. It's that simple. Now... It's time to cut their numbers. Stay safe, little one." She said, before pulling her hilt out again, and standing up. With that, she ran past Alphys' turrets, with a battle cry. That woman changed when she was in battle. That being said, Frisk climbed past Alphys, who lifted a hand to wave to them before turning back to her beeping console. A rocket fired from a turret, and Frisk bit their lip, scrambling up the hill to perch on top of a large, tall rock to see as much as the battle as possible. Magic, steel, and pure engineering genius clashed one on one, and the surging ranks of humans began to be felled. Frisk gasped, leaning forward. Were they going to win? Were... Frisk caught sight of Undyne, who tore off her helmet, throwing the beaten thing at a beefy looking human, knocking the guy out, before shouting something that even Frisk could hear.

"Give me a lift!" She bellowed, and Sans dive-bombed into the ground again, sending up a huge cloud of dust and dirt. Frisk wondered how they had managed to survive that attack of ridiculous proportions. Undyne leaped onto a blaster with Sans, nearly falling as they ascended. Far up into the air, Undyne put her hand on the snout of the blaster, and beams, laced with spears, shot out of its maw into the ranks. Suddenly, everything began to turn. No longer were the waves of people clashing against each other, but they were a single wave, running away from the Exit. The monsters stopped, letting the humans run, but that didn't stop Sans and Undyne zooming after it and disappearing into the distance with the humans.

"... Well, F-Frisk! What do you think about... O-Our first win?" Alphys asked Frisk, turning off her console. All at once, her turrets began to fold into themselves, compacting and morphing until they were heavy metal crates. "Pretty exciting, huh? W-We haven't had the land outside of the E-Exit for a while!" Frisk stared into the distance for a few more moments, before nodding. Huh. The monsters had won. That wasn't something Frisk was used to hearing, or saying. "... This is gonna take a l-long time to clean up." She said, walking down the hill to join the rendezvous taking place in the middle of the valley. Time to count how many monster deaths there were. Frisk slid down the rock, ignoring the scrape they got on the back of their legs, running after Alphys. They finally caught up to the group of monsters, where Alphys handed Toriel a folded up piece of paper.

"Right then...One moment." She rolled it open with a sigh. "Sans and Undyne are probably fine. They'll be back soon." Toriel said, beginning to call out names and marking a few off with a few movements with her hand. Frisk could see the ash on her hands. Quite a few were marked off, and Frisk assumed they were the fallen soldiers. Frisk bit their lip, seeing Toriel's point about overwhelming numbers. They walked up to her, and she rested a hand on their head for a moment before continuing, counting under her breath. "... Sans!" She called. Toriel blinked in surprise, glancing around her. "Has anyone seen him? He has a reputation to disappear at random moments." Toriel said, and Frisk was about to speak when the blare of Sans' blaster rung through the sky and screaming was heard. All of the soldiers were speechless as Sans landed on the ground, and Undyne tumbled unceremoniously off, sobbing. Sans sighed, sitting down on the grass among the fallen human and monsters, saluting Toriel.

"yo. someone call?" He said casually. Toriel merely blinked. "oh, her? ... ever seen a fish fly? yeah, neither have i. exactly."

"You will never convince me to do that again you sadistic bastard!" Undyne yelled.

"you're the one who told me to 'give you a lift'. i'm not an elevator." Sans yawned, before leaning against his blaster with a sigh.

"... Sans and Undyne... Accounted for." Toriel managed.

* * *

That night, fires burned high in the valley before the Exit. Grim faced monsters mourned their own losses, but spat on the corpses of their deceased enemies before tossing them into the magically lit fires, where they would crumble to dust within the hour. Asgore, the nearly fatally wounded king, sat beside Frisk. And even though his face was creased with lines of pain, he wore a large smile. This was the largest victory the monsters had managed in quite a bit, and it lifted the king's spirit. He knew that many people died, he also knew that they died for the greatest cause of all. Freeing the monsters and defeating the humans. Asgore sighed, holding out his huge paw for Frisk to help him up out of the grass. By now, monsters considered Frisk as one of their own, and who cared if they were a human? There was a good human once, the child of Asgore and Toriel. All of them couldn't be that bad. "One day, you're going to get to fight out with us, little one. But, for now, Undyne and I have been talking. Now that we've reclaimed this land, we've expanded our territory, and we're preparing the plans to build a more permanent settlement outside of the Underground." Asgore explained to Frisk as they walked. Frisk didn't enjoy the thought of hurting others, but it was only by Sans saving their hide on multiple occasions that they made it out of the Underground without fighting anyone...

"Anyways, the point I'm trying to make is that Undyne will be taking over your training, with some additional help here and there from Sans, Papyrus, Alphys, you get it." Asgore explained to Frisk. Lo and behold, one of the certain people Asgore had listed off groaned from behind them, and Frisk let out a yelp, nearly falling over due to a blue magic they were all too familiar with lifting them up back onto their feet.

"Okay, trainin' this kid with Undyne? I'm chill with that. But Papy trainin' them? Nah. Don't let the kid be trained by two monsters who had wanted 'em killed. Get my point, Fluffybuns?" Sans explained to Asgore. Asgore decided to look over the fact that Sans had called him 'Fluffybuns', and sighed.

"I suppose you're right. Okay then. You and Undyne can take over their training." He admitted that Sans' point was valid. "But, on another note, what about the name of the town that we will be building here?"

"Super Mega Death Town... of death and _stuff."_ Sans spoke up, and Asgore immediately shot him a look. It was kinda hard to be intimidated by a guy who everyone called King Fluffybuns, though.

"I meant for Frisk to name it?" Asgore said. "... And was that a reference?"

"definitely not referencing a crazy human gunner... but don't... _jinx_ it." Sans laughed.

"... I don't get it." Asgore said, and Sans rolled off of his blaster, howling with laughter at his own joke, faceplanting in the grass. With that, Asgore quickly swept Frisk away from him, questioning his sanity. Frisk thought as they walked. This was pretty big, wasn't it? Naming an entire monster settlement? They snorted, thinking of something that would fit the typical bad naming streak Asgore had. Home, New Home, Snowdin, Waterfall, Hotlands? Clearly a master of naming things badly. They shook their head, thinking of how they could break his streak and name it something good, something like...

"New Beginning?" Frisk asked Asgore. Oh well. They did it on the fly, anyways. Asgore seemed to approve of it, looking over how their naming skills were on the same caliber as his, approaching Toriel.

So, on a night, when funeral fires reached into the night sky, where the stars seemed to dance among the funnels of smoke, the monsters celebrated their victory. It really was a New Beginning for everyone. And Frisk, sitting side by side with their mismatched group of monster friends, was determined to beat the humans back and save the monsters from being killed off. War wasn't pretty... They knew that. But with enough patience, bravery, integrity, perseverance, kindness, justice, and above all, determination... Frisk knew they would win one day.

* * *

 **Welcome back to the grim world of Understrife, everyone! As the title suggests, this takes place after the events of the Understrife fanfiction I wrote...**

 **That's it.**

 **buh bye-**


	2. Trapped Behind a Pacifist

... A pale hand stretched towards them, reaching out to their own. A voice pierced through their thoughts, so hauntingly familiar, taunting them to grab their hand... Three piercing lights shone through the darkness, all bright red. " _They know violence is the answer. Even you know it. So why won't you just... Let me... Kill everything for you?!_ " A child stepped from the darkness, cackling with laughter, whips of the darkness slamming into them. They opened their mouth to scream, only for nothing to be let out at all. Darkness covered them, and they struggled, struggled as hard as they could, but they wouldn't move. They tried to call for help...

" _But nobody c-_ "

"UP AND AT 'EM, RUNT!" A certain fish lady's voice bellowed way too close to their ear. Frisk sat up, panting heavily in a cold sweat. Undyne straightened up from their bed, smiling widely. "Fuhuhu! Works every time!" Undyne laughed, but blinked when Frisk didn't respond, staring blankly at the wall and trembling. They swore they were going to have a heart attack if this kept up. They slid off of their bed instinctively, nearly falling to the ground with how shaky their knees were. Undyne quickly caught them, pulling them up to their feet. "Did I scare you that badly? Jeez... You're reminding me of Alphys after she's gone down that elevator." She asked, some guilt apparent in her voice. Frisk didn't want to think of the Old Lab. Not after what they had just saw. "... You're looking really pale. Are you okay? Do I have to beat any sickness out of you?" Undyne quizzed them, and they simply walked past her, opening up the door with a sigh. Their stomach was churning, and they did not want to throw up on the very violent fish who would be training them today. "... Just... Come around to the field when you're ready to go, alright?" She called to them, as they closed the door, leaving her in their room.

Frisk took a deep breath, feeling like they were about to break down into tears right then and there in the hallway of the cadet building that had been built. 'Fort' New Beginning had only been in place for about a week, and monsters had been working on and off between fighting the humans off of their new settlement. They had erected a few buildings, the cadet building included. A field had been cleared for Undyne and Asgore to be able to train new recruits, and the structure of a wall had begun to have been built. Frisk sighed, pulling themselves together and heading on path to exit the small building. They needed to show that they were a strong human, someone who could be worthy of being in the monster army one day... And embarrassing themselves wouldn't help. Frisk pushed open the door, fixing their short sleeved shirt as they walked out of the door. The winter had recently passed, and Frisk was glad that the monsters had missed the snow and the cold before pushing out of the Underground. But the bad thing of it was that the humans would have no reason to hold off. No cold or frost could slow them down in the springtime. Frisk quickly pulled their fingers through their hair as they walked, deciding it would be best to look at least slightly presentable to their one on one training lesson with Sans and Undyne.

They walked down the paths cut through the grass, before cutting through a few trees to get to the field. They expected that this place would change quite a bit as the monsters inhabited it, especially to accommodate more houses, but the mostly untouched land was... Tranquil. You could never have guessed that a bloody battle occurred only a week beforehand. Frisk sat down on the grass, arriving at the field and waiting for Undyne. That dream still haunted and unnerved them, and they didn't feel safe anymore... If they weren't able to have any peace, even in their dreams, where could they have it at all? Frisk turned, staring at the construction of the wall going on, hoping they could get it up soon before another attack happened. They sighed, their thoughts turning back to that dream. The voice was familiar, no doubt, but they couldn't place it. Suddenly, a pair of voices reached their ears, and they listened hard, turning their attention to the entrance of the field. "undyne, i'm just sayin' that soldiers need to sleep to be effective..."

"Sans, it's seven." Undyne growled, obviously thinking that that was late. Frisk didn't think so. "And stop trying to convince me to ride on that thing! The last time I did it I nearly threw up!"

"again, you were kinda the one who told me to give ya a lift." Sans mumbled. The nose of his blaster floated into view, and the short skeleton was sitting on the very top of his blaster, turned backwards to talk to Undyne face to face. "but hey, what do i know?" He laughed casually, and Undyne sighed, coming into view along with Sans. She was dressed up in all of her armor minus her helmet, which she carried under her arm. Frisk was impressed just how quickly someone could get into full heavy armor... They stood up, raising a hand to wave hello to Undyne and Sans as they saw Frisk. "wassup kiddo?" Sans called to them, turning back around and sliding down to the middle of his blaster. Undyne didn't return their greeting, and Frisk merely shrugged.

"Pff, you're looking better." Undyne mumbled, and Sans raised an 'eyebrow' before the fish lady grabbed the nose of his blaster, pulling it into line in front of Frisk, who quickly got into place themselves. "AAAAATTENTION!" Undyne yelled, and Frisk quickly stamped. Sans, on the other hand, was quite, staring at Frisk. "Right then, I bet you already know why you're here, but let me run over it one more time just to get it through your head. Welcome to Undyne's badass training camp where I'm gonna teach you how to fight like a monster! Got it?"

"undyne... humans cant learn magic." Sans said, leaning over to Undyne.

"... THEN YOU'RE GONNA FIGHT LIKE A HUMAN WITH BRUTE FORCE AND WEAPONS NOW SHUT UP SANS!" Undyne yelled, and Sans shrugged. Normally, Sans would be beginning to laugh his butt off, but he wasn't. "Ahem... Okay, there's... Some things that Asgore asked me to say, so, er... Okay, so! A soldier needs patience, bravery, integrity, perseverance, kindness, justice, and-"

"Determination." Frisk finished her sentence for her, and Undyne nodded, looking impressed.

"Nicely done, kid. Anyways, Sans, would you get the dummies set up right over there?" She asked him, and Sans' eye glowed blue, picking up Undyne and placing her where she told him to put the, quote unquote, dummies. "... Well fuck you too." Undyne said, stamping her foot into the ground. "Go find them while I get Frisk set up, will you?" Sans yawned, closing his left eye. "What are you doing." She asked him, and Sans shrugged.

"i can't see anymore, so i can't go find them now." Sans mumbled.

"... What do you mean?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow. Frisk was confused as well, not knowing what he meant either.

"... My eye. Didn't you know? I'm, you know... Kind of blind in one eye?" He asked, sounding just as confused as they did. "... Did you seriously not know?"

"No, when the heck did that happen?" Undyne said.

"... A little bit after I got moved out of being a Royal Scientist... Come to think of it, I don't really remember how, before you asked." Sans thought for a moment. "... I remember waking up in the Ruins, and the queen was helping me. That's all. But, yeah." Sans opened his left eye. "Can't see in the right. Just like you, except you don't have your left eye." He shrugged. "Nothing new... Don't worry about me, alright? It's old news..." He laughed nervously. Undyne bit her lip with her sharp teeth, shaking her head.

"I think we should ask Toriel about this, after we're done with the kid." Undyne said, before turning back to Frisk. They were more disturbed than they had ever been, apart from when they were in the Old Lab. He hadn't mentioned that, not even to Frisk. Sans didn't even remember the reason for why he was blind in one eye, just that he... Was. Perhaps it had something to do with their dream. Suddenly, dark lines rolled down, and something began to cover their vision... Frisk quickly leaped out of the way, panicking, only to realize that... Well, Undyne was just attempting to outfit them for their training. "... Are you alright?" She asked them. "I told you I was gonna put this on you. If you're really not feelin' that good, then I guess we could reschedule. Might be good to just take it easy and hang out with Toriel... What do you think, Sans?" Undyne turned to him, apparently deciding that this would be a good time to soften up on Frisk and be a little bit nicer.

"Yeah. I dunno if they're doin' too well. I'll take them to Toriel." Sans sighed. "Tomorrow we'll try this again, if they feel up to it." He called to Undyne, and before she could object, he got off of his blaster and grabbed Frisk by the hand, pulling them away from the field. Soon, when they were on the twisting pathway, it was clear that they were the only ones around. They had captured quite a bit of land during the battle, but they weren't able to clear the bulk of the forest, and they were right in the middle of it. Sans was silent for about a minute, until they were clear away from the field. "... So. Frisk. I want you to tell me something, and you need to promise to me that you're not going to lie, because this is very, very important. You got that?"

"Y-Yeah..." Frisk nodded, wondering what he was going to ask them.

"Did you see red?" Sans asked them, so sternly and urgently, that... Well. Frisk was completely confused.

"What? Did I see red? What do you mean?"

"Did you see red, Frisk. In your dream? Did you see three red lights..."

"How would you know? Y-Yes, I did!" Frisk yelped.

"I had the same dream as you had, I bet. Two glowing eyes, one glowing SOUL. Darkness. Unable to move?" Sans quizzed them.

"E-Exactly..." Frisk stammered.

"Then we're going to have a bad time... Meet me in the Judgement Hall, alright?" Sans said, pushing past Frisk. "This is more than just a coincidence, and I have a bad feeling about this. Stay safe, because I can't do this without you." He muttered, glancing at them. His one good eye gave off a spark of purple, before he rounded a corner in the path.

"Wait, Sans! What do you mean! What's happening, please-" Frisk ran after him, only to find that he had vanished into thin air. "... Please tell me what's going on?" Frisk whispered, chills running up their spine. They took a shaky breath, before running on the path, headed towards the Exit to reenter the Underground. Frisk knew that they needed to stop relying on Sans like they had in the Underground, but they were still terrified. Sans seemed to know what was going on, and they sure as hell didn't. Not at all. Frisk sprinted as fast as they could, their heart racing in fear. They wanted to get to the Judgement Hall as quickly as possible. Sans didn't invite them to things anymore unless it was absolutely important.

* * *

"I'm... H... He... Here..." Frisk splashed into the Judgement Hall. They fell to their knees into the water, and Sans splashed towards them, patting their head.

"i really should have teleported us, huh? oh well... heh. it would be too suspicious for you to just up and disappear, huh?" Sans said. "I like what they've done with the place here..." He mumbled, helping them up. "Monsters catalog the important victories and battles and events in stained glass. Do you see yourself up there? Yeah. You're in monster history forever. Nice job, kid." Frisk was honestly surprised. What had they done? But... They shook their head. "You're right, that's not what we're here to talk about. Now, Frisk. You remember Chara, don't you? Someone who went missing doesn't just... Reappear in the middle of a big fight out of thin air. No. It would be impossible. And it's just... Strange." Sans began to explain to them. "Frisk, let me explain something else to you. Monster and human SOUL's are practically the same, but there are some who are stronger than others. Toriel, patience, Asgore, bravery, my brother and I, integrity, Muffet, perseverance, Undyne, kindness, Alphys, justice. All of their SOUL's are different. And yours is the most powerful. It stands for Determination, and... Well. Chara has the same SOUL as you do. They're connected to you, Frisk. They're not just some kid. Chara is part of you."

"What? A-Are you saying that, what, we're the same person?" Frisk asked him in confusion.

"I mean, I know it sounds like bull, but come on. You literally TURNED into Chara during the fight against the prince. You two are connected by your identical SOUL's, and you're only the one in control right now. I'm assuming that you weren't the one fighting when you turned to Chara?" Frisk shook their head, and Sans continued with a sigh. "Well, that's bad. Chara's tired of being suppressed, Frisk. You can't keep them down forever, and they want out. The dreams we both had... I wouldn't be surprised if everyone else had them. But Undyne was acting just fine... But that probably has something to do with how she thinks she can spear anything through without trouble. But we haven't seen anyone else today. It might do us some good to ask around."

"Do we have to pull everyone else into... This whole Chara thing?" Frisk asked him, and Sans shrugged, his eye glowing purple.

"Hell if I know. For the first time, I don't know what to do, and it scares me. After all, we've never been on the surface for so long after you've completed..." Sans mumbled, kicking the water up and slipped his hands into his pockets, staring down at the ground. He quickly trailed off of his words, realizing what he was suggesting. And Frisk knew all too well what he meant too. Sans had no reason to finish his sentence. "... Just, ask around, would you? I'll handle Alphys, Papyrus, Asgore, and Muffet. You can have the rest. If anyone, anyone else had anything even close to what we had... They'll have to be dragged in, zero questions. Okay?"

"B-But, h-how... How would I get rid of something that's a part of me?" Frisk called to him as he began to walk off.

"... I don't know that either. But it's not going to be pleasant. Hang in there... And don't hurt anything. Don't use the button. Or I'll take care of Chara myself, no matter what it takes." Sans whispered, turning to give them a glimpse of his eye as it flared up into a blue color, before he began to leave. He raised a hand, whipping the water that ran through the Judgement Hall into a torrent that hid him, disappearing without a trace...

And leaving a very scared, wet, and confused Frisk.


	3. Permanent

Sans stared at the purple building, crawling with spiders, and sighed. Yeah. This was definitely where Muffet was. As he raised a hand to knock on the door, a spider fell from the large roof, on a string. It held a slip of paper, and swung to catch Sans' attention. The skeleton turned, taking the scrap from the spider. It dropped from its sting, onto the paper that Sans now held, and Sans tried not to get annoyed and brush the thing off. It wouldn't do to make Muffet mad. Sans sighed, focusing his attention on what the note said. 'Good day, darling! I've locked myself into my shop! Don't ask why! Just know that if I ever miss a business day, it's for a very important reason!' Sans raised an 'eyebrow'. This raised some serious red flags for him. A different spider appeared, grabbing the paper with the other spider on it, lifting it up into the air. It seemed that this was how Muffet had decided to be covered. Nevertheless, Sans walked up to the door of Muffet's half house, half restaurant, knocking on it very loudly. The spiders scuttled immediately to the door, swarming over it. Seemed like they really didn't want Sans to get in. He sighed, brushing away some of the spiders. The bulk of them fell off, only for other ones to replace where they were. "Ugh... Okay. MUFFET!" Sans yelled, shaking off a spider that had decided it would be a good idea to climb onto a short tempered skeleton assassin. "Come on, it's business from the queen!" He said, thinking quickly.

After a few moments, the sound of footsteps was audible. The door cracked open very carefully, and any spiders near the hinges scuttled away back into hiding. "Business from the queen?" Muffet asked, the six eyed spider girl peering out cautiously.

"Just a few questions... Did you perhaps see three red lights then get nearly killed in a dream?" Sans straight up asked Muffet.

All of her eyes blinked in confusion. "... What the... D-Does the queen know about it? How would YOU know?" She yelped. "I mean, I-I don't know how or why? I don't know what that dream meant! Did it have to do with the humans?" Muffet began to ask him, descending into a blind panic. Sans sighed. If someone like Muffet has this dream, it was a safe assumption that everyone else did.

"that's all, muffet. sorry to bother you. i'll be contacting you later, alright? just go on and sell your stuff. i'll drop by later and buy somethin'." Sans yawned, walking away and leaving the very confused spider girl to watch him walk away. At least she had secured a sale...

Sans sighed, taking out a slip of paper and leaving a check next to it. Muffet was going to be involved. Sans gritted his teeth as he walked, trying not to think of what would happen if Alphys had to deal with this. Their friendship had been stretched to its breaking point when Frisk was still in the Underground, but Sans knew he had just been a short tempered jerk. He avoided talking to Alphys, especially after the events of the Core, but now it was time for him to go and face his old friend. Guilt ran through every part of him as he thought of her. He never wanted to be reassigned from being a Royal Scientist, but did he have a choice in the matter? He had also lied to Alphys, on the day he left. Sans didn't want to think about it, but now that he had set his mind on Alphys, he couldn't stop. Memories hurt, but Sans had to get through it one day.

* * *

Alphys slid open the door to the lab in Hotlands, a stack of papers under her arm as she stuffed a key card into her shirt pocket. She began to take the stairs two at a time, beginning to sort through the letters. One for Sans from the royal guard. How interesting! Perhaps they wanted to have him create some new weapons for them. "Sans!" Alphys called out, reaching the second floor.

"heyo al. what's going... 'ion'?" Sans looked up from his work, and kicked off of the desk in his rolling chair over to Alphys.

"Do you always have to use that one pun?" Alphys laughed.

"i could stop, but will i? ... nah. probably not." Sans snorted.

"A-Anyways, mail." She said, handing the intricately decorated envelope to her partner and friend in science.

"thanks much!" He yawned, standing up. Sans took a moment to flip over the envelope, reading who it was from, before opening it up. "awright..."

'Dear Sans.

We have been monitoring your progress throughout the time you have worked as a Royal Scientist. The things you have created have been invaluable, including the DT Machine you repaired. But, as useful as you are in science, we believe that you would be more useful on the battlefield. We know about how good you are at fighting. Leave Hotlands and go to the Bunker to receive the rest of your orders from the Queen. Until you '

Alphys caught how Sans' expression has descended into complete and total horror as he read, so it was impossible for her to not question it. "Uhm... Sans? Are you alright?" Alphys asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder. A shaky smile that was filled with no cheer at all made its way onto his face.

"... they reassigned me." He whispered.

"W-What?! B-B-But that doesn't make any sense! I-I mean, we're the o-only... We're the only Royal Scientists left..." She whimpered, trying not to break out into sobbing. "Wh-Why..."

"I don't know! I don't..." Sans gritted his teeth, his eyes glowing of purple and blue. Alphys knew him long enough to know that it meant that he was scared and feeling completely miserable. "... I... I should go get my stuff." He whispered, shaking off her hand, and walking past her. Alphys was completely speechless, watching him walk down the stairs. So she was the only one that would be left... And she would completely alone. Alphys let out a choking sob, standing there and shaking. The only friend she could see often, was going to be moved far away from her. As the only two Royal Scientists left, she and Sans were stressed at all times, but they had each other to depend on, to have fun with and just be good friends. But now...

"I can't do this alone... I'll screw every-" Alphys let out a yelp, and uncovered her face when warm blue aura of magic surrounded her. It lifted her gently into the air, floating her down the stairs, where Sans was waiting by the door. It was odd to see Sans in anything else other than his usual lab coat and glasses, but he was now wearing an old looking jacket, shorts, a regular shirt, and an odd scarf. One of the ends of the scarf trailed off into a blue heart. She took a moment to look at him, before Sans addressed her directly.

"Alphys, don't worry. Okay? You're okay." He reassured her, putting her down gently in front of him. "You're going to ace this while I'm gone. I promise I'll visit. All I need you to do is stay positive... Come visit me in Snowdin sometimes if you can." Sans said, and his gaze shifted to the floor, not knowing what else to say. He let out a sigh, raising a hand to pat her on the head, walking away from her. "... See you." He muttered, glancing at her for a moment, before opening the door and closing it. Alphys stood there for a moment, before running up to the door and opening it.

"Wait, Sans...!" There was only a blue glow that faded away after a few moments to signal that there was anyone there at all.

* * *

"... Why the hell do I worry about this stuff as much as I do..." Sans sighed. "... I'm not leaving her. I'm just... Asking her a question. Right. Yeah. Just asking her a question." He pep talked himself, standing in front of the door of the field lab that had been built. Sans gritted his teeth, grabbing his old key card and raising it to the door, about to plug it in to get in and talk to Alphys, when it suddenly opened. He let out a yelp, his eye giving off a bright spark of purple, before turning yellow and blue as he nearly fell backwards. A yellow hand darted out to catch his, and quickly pulled him up back onto his feet.

"S-S-Sans! H... Hello... There." Alphys said, quickly letting go of his hand. "W-what did you want?" She asked him timidly.

"uhm... just some business sort of stuff."

"Let me guess... Has to do with your human murdering missions... Right?" Alphys asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"No, no, uhm, other stuff! Frisk and I are actually... Just working on this thing... Nevermind, Alphys, did you have any weird dreams last night? No, not dreams, nightmares?"

"... Now that you bring it up... T-There were these two blue pairs of eyes, they kinda look like... Well, yours." Alphys said, pointing a claw at his glowing left eye. Sans blinked to clear it, and they returned to their normal pinpricks of white light. "And they were moving really quickly, you know? Then there were another pair of red eyes, and then a red streak. And, uhm, w-well, the blue eyes suddenly just cut out, just like that. And then I woke up." Alphys mumbled. "... Is that all?" If a skeleton could look pale, then Sans probably would be. "... Uhm, and if you have the ti-"

"... yeah. sorry. sorry. i'll just... uhm. be... going. to talk to... my... uhm. brother." Sans began to stammer and stumble over his words as if he had just swapped personalities with Alphys merely by talking to her. He seemed to not realize that he had just ran over Alphys' sentence.

"O-Okay?" She said, watching him turn and hurry off as quickly as he could... "... See you." Alphys sighed, glancing at the letter she held before stuffing it back into her pocket.

* * *

Frisk worked quickly. Besides, they had less people to deal with than Sans did. Now, Frisk sat next to Toriel's fireplace with a piece of paper. All of the names on it had a check on it, apart from Toriel's. "I have to admit that I was disturbed. I don't have dreams often, and the eyes I saw reminded me of someone. I just can't place it." Frisk quickly marked off her name, and rubbed their eyes. "... You mentioned that you and Sans were doing this little investigation, yes?" Toriel asked Frisk, and they nodded. "... Promise me that you won't tell him this, okay? This is very serious. I've never even mentioned this to Asgore."

"... Promise." Frisk managed to say, wondering what she wanted to tell them.

"You probably know that Sans is blind in one eye, right? His right eye. Well, it's been kind of a mystery to me. I have no idea how he could have gotten that done to him... I was sitting at my home in the Ruins, enjoying a book on snails and snail recipes in the small break that I had. A few young monsters had been pestering me lately, playing that... Rather stupid game of ringing someone's doorbell and running off. It just doesn't make sense. But I heard a knock, and immediately assumed it was them. I got up and opened the door, about to reprimand them for wasting my time, when I found Sans. He had wrapped his scarf around his right eye, but that wasn't enough to stop how much blood there was." She paused, letting Frisk take this in. Toriel rubbed her eye, before continuing. "It sent chills up my spine to think about it... I'm just astonished that I was able to fix how cracked his skull was... He made it out of that with only a missing eye and few cracks in his skull that I couldn't heal... He was lucky to survive that. It happened a few months after he was reassigned to a post in Snowdin, and as I'm sure you already know, an assassin for the monsters. When he woke up, he told me what he could remember." Toriel sat back, putting on her best imitation of Sans' voice.

"I remember being at my post. There was something dark red that hit me in the face. That blow alone nearly killed me. I tied my scarf around my head and made my way to the Ruins. I don't remember what happened after that." Toriel stopped her imitation, and crossed her legs. "I've been thinking... All of the members of the Royal Guard wear dark red gloves. Undyne, the Canine Unit, Papyrus... I haven't been able to pin down who it could have been. For all I know, it could have been a human... But Sans swore it was a monster. Just... Try to keep an eye out for someone that might fit the bill, alright? I want to try and solve thi-" Suddenly, a boom rang through the entire house, and there was a loud crash. Toriel immediately got up, scooping Frisk into her arms as she began to run outside. "It's heading towards the barracks. Come on." She told Frisk, sprinting as fast as she could.

When they arrived, they found something that even surprised Frisk. Sans stared down at his brother, who he had knocked onto his knees, pulling his scarf up into a tight knot with his magic. A line of blasters was raised up, aimed at Papyrus and ready to shoot... "There's not a single shadow of a doubt that I have, Papyrus... That you were the one who blinded me." Sans growled, a cheerless smile on his face that Frisk would relate to a certain purple cat's. Frisk struggled out of Toriel's arms, running as fast as they could. Mercy wasn't on Sans' agenda, but it certainly was for Frisk, as they leaped in front of the line of the blasters as they charged up to fire.


	4. Control

The blaster beam shot into Frisk, who let out a yell, slamming into the floor from the force. Toriel gasped, running over to them. The skeletal assassin was dead silent, clapping his hands to create a blaster. He stepped back onto its nose, and it tilted up into the air as he sat down. The two odd ends of his scarf began to flap in a wind that he was creating, the blue heart on one of the ends of it glowing and sparking. Frisk was out cold, and Toriel turned, a ferocious snarl escaping from the queen. "I've had my concerns about you before, Sans! Your mental state is worse than broken, and you just tried to shoot your own brother, a high ranking commander! Not only that, but you managed to injure a child!"

"a _human_ child." He said, a completely blank expression on his face. His one good eye was stuck on a red glow, unchanging as he stared down at Toriel.

"What... What is wrong with you?! You protect them with your life one second-"

"with all due respect, toriel, they got in the way. if they had sat back, this wouldn't have happened."

"But that doesn't explain why you attempted to kill your brother!" She shouted, her hand going to the hilt of her sword. Sans was silent. "ANSWER ME!" Toriel roared, taking the hilt out and growing a firey blade out of it. "I trusted you, Sans! You were my friend! And..." Sans blinked, a confused look coming over his face as his eyes returned to normal, only to yelp at the sight of Toriel pulling a sword out and aiming the thing at him. "Get out of here." She growled, and turned back to Frisk. Sans opened his mouth to say something, when Toriel turned, her violet eyes shining in the light of her fire sword. A shiver ran up his spine, and he gritted his teeth, grabbing the jaw of his blaster. With a loud boom, he nearly ran over Papyrus, Frisk, and Toriel, until he pulled up sharply into the air, ascending into the sky. "... Never... Come back." She whispered, before scooping Frisk up and nudging Papyrus to tell him to get up. She would make sure that Frisk was never harmed again, by anyone, especially not the people she previously put trust into.

Far above, circling in the night sky, was Sans, shuddering from the last few bites of cold winter had thrown at them, and the whipping winds. One of his best friends has just pulled a sword on him. Sans sighed, grabbing the ends of his scarf and wrapping it around him, pulling his hood over his head against the cold. His fingers brushed against the cracks left in his skull around his right eye, and he winced slightly. He didn't know what had happened. He had been on his way to go meet Frisk at Toriel's home, when he heard Toriel and Frisk talking. His sneaky assassin mode activating, Sans had eavesdropped on them, and heard Toriel's theory on it being his own brother who made him blind in one eye. Everything had clicked in the already broken skeleton's mind, and he realized that he really was blind...

* * *

Sans flopped down onto the chair set up at his station with a groan. "i swear to the angel..." He sighed, laying face down on the splinter filled desk. Getting used to this whole... Assassination thing was hard. And he had been sent after three individual camps today. He didn't even care when he heard footsteps crunching through the snow, continuing to lay face down on his sentry station. A hand tapped on his head, and he mumbled something incoherent. The hand reached back to grab the hood on his jacket, and pulled him off of the table to where he was leaning against the chair. Sans reached up a hand to rub his eyes, sighing. "is this about my tab..." He mumbled. "i said i'd pay it in a bit..."

"No, this is not about your tab! What are you doing?!" Papyrus exclaimed incredulously, and Sans was about to tell him about what happened in his day, before remembering what Toriel had told him. Don't tell anyone about your job. Especially not your brother. Especially not Alphys. To everyone except Toriel and Asgore, he was a simple sentry in Snowdin's forests. Instead of saying anything, Sans just decided to be quiet, staring at his brother. Papyrus groaned, putting on his best impression of his brother. "Oh I'm sorry Papyrus, I know I should be working!"

Sans sighed. "oh, i'm sorry papyrus, i know i should be working." He yawned, before leaning forwards and face-desking on his station.

"If you're tired, you should have slept last night!" Papyrus hissed. "What if a human comes along and kills you? You're so damn lazy! One day you're going to wake up, and you're going to realize, that, hey, maybe I should be doing something in this war! Maybe I should be helping us to win! Damn the army moving you out of being some stupid Royal Scientist. They're useless, and you're no exception. You're still useless, even now!" He ranted, his eyes glowing red as he yelled at his brother.

"rough day of sitting here at the sentry, bro. lay off..." He mumbled, attempting a weak retort. Papyrus narrowed his eyes, reaching forward to grab his brother and slam him into the snow. Sans let out a yelp of surprise. "okay, i'm awake! calm your shit!" Sans yelled, sitting up and attempting to dust off the snow from his jacket when Papyrus kicked him in his chest, slamming him down into the snow again. Sans opened his mouth to say something, when Papyrus leaned down to grab him by his shirt, lifting his fist and punching him as hard as he could in his right eye. A painful sounding crack came from his skull, and he let out a cry, slamming onto the ground. He got up slowly, touching his hand to where his brother had hit him, and winced. It burned like it was on fire, and it was clear that Papyrus has amplified his hit with magic... His fingers were coated with red blood, and Sans quickly pulled his scarf from his neck, tying it around his wounded eye as quickly as he could. He got up, staring at his brother, his good eye glowing red. Papyrus took a step back, gritting his teeth, before turning and running as fast as he could away from his wounded brother. "Get back here!" Sans yelled, taking a few shaky steps after him. "... Get... Back... So I can..."

Sans nearly collapsed to his knees, and he gritted his teeth, channeling the magic that he could in his wounded state. He needed to get to the Bunker. To Toriel's house... He closed his eye, thinking hard about where he needed to go...The familiar shift of the winds surrounded him, and he found himself in front of Toriel's home at the end of the Bunker. Sans stumbled up to the door, raising a hand to knock, only managing a weak little tap, before collapsing, his hand scraping against the old wood. So this was how he was going to go out. Killed by his own brother. He didn't know that his brother had that in him... In any timeline...

* * *

Sans didn't remember anything when he had woken up at Toriel's house. And apparently Papyrus had cleaned up all of the evidence... It explained why Papyrus had looked so surprised when he finally came home. Sans hadn't been home for about a week until Toriel finally let him go. Sans supposed that Papyrus thought he was dead... But it would have been better if he didn't come home, after this. Sans gritted his teeth, standing up on his blaster, perched perilously high in the sky. When Toriel told Frisk about her theory, and he heard it... He felt hands on his shoulders when nobody was there, and blasted off in a blind rage. The next thing he knew, he was at the bad end of Toriel's blade, about to get sliced. Frisk and Papyrus were on the ground, his brother looking terrified of him.

Suddenly, it hit him. He had let Chara have him. He could feel their hands on his shoulders, and he quickly shook his head. He needed to go far, far away from anyone he could hurt. Somewhere nobody could find him. Sans dropped to his knees, grabbing onto the jaws of his blaster, and a boom rang through the sky as it went into gear, leaving New Beginnings behind. There would be no new beginning for him there anymore.

Toriel stared at the white beam that slashed through the sky for a few moments, holding Frisk tightly in her arms. Nobody would hurt her loved ones without paying the price, and Sans had done just that. She would have struck him down right and there if it wasn't for him being so useful in the war. Toriel knew that Sans was beyond unstable, and that he was bound to do something like this, but that was no excuse.

* * *

Frisk stared up at the ceiling, panting heavily. As soon as they were well enough to listen, Toriel had filled them in on everything. Perhaps she had exaggerated some things, but they didn't care. It was late at night by now, and Toriel was sitting in a chair beside their bed. They turned their head, taking a look at Toriel. Her head was tilted forwards slightly, falling onto her chest. She was asleep. And that was good. Frisk sat up as quietly as they could, edging over to the end of the bed. They had made up their mind, deciding to go and find Sans by themselves. It was merely an accident, they knew that, but did Toriel care? No. And Papyrus sure as hell didn't. Frisk bit their lip, edging past Toriel, before stepping onto the floorboards and wincing at the creaking noise it made. They stared at Toriel for a few moments, holding their breath. She didn't move her head. Frisk leaned down, grabbing their backpack and quickly getting into more adventure-worthy clothing. And only for the sake of nostalgia did they put the only shirt they wore back in the Underground into their backpack. With that, Frisk left with nothing but what they had put in their pack. Granted, they should have probably thought it through a little bit more, but they didn't think about it.

Frisk closed the door quietly, and began to run through New Beginnings as fast as they could. Monsters knew Frisk, and they needed to get out without anyone noticing them. And that would be hard with a wall surrounding most of New Beginnings. So, they decided to exit the town by the unfinished portion of the wall, near the field. They slowed down slightly, wincing from the lingering pain of the magical attack Sans had blasted them with, arriving at the field. Toriel wasn't chasing after them, so that was a good sign that they were in the clear. Frisk began walking through the field, sighing in relief. Nobody was in sight, except for that one glowing light in the bushes. They bit their lip, beginning to walk a little bit faster. It was still there. With that, they began to run as fast as they could in a blind panic, as a blue spear seared through the night shadows, and slammed into the ground next to them. A figure stepped out of the bushes, and Frisk could see very clearly that they had very long hair. But who else used spears except for Undyne? ... Except that wasn't Undyne. Was it? Frisk didn't stop, until they tripped rather pathetically over a rock.

No clank of armor reached their ears, but they heard the stamping of running feet, and a rough hand hauled them up to their feet. "... Oh, twerp! Whaddya doing out here!" Undyne's familiar voice reached their ears, and they let out a sigh of relief. "Late night training like me? And sorry about the spears. You and Sans are the same height, and Toriel issued orders to kill him on sight."

"What? Kill Sans on sight?" They questioned her, looking at what they assumed was her face. It was too dark.

"Yeah. He's a useful guy, but come on. Someone can only take war for so long, and he was too weak to face it. Anyways, what are you doing out here?" She asked them.

"... Going to find him?" They said nervously. Undyne snorted, letting go of them.

"I didn't think you had the guts to go after a BOUNTY!" She laughed, and patted them on the head, nearly knocking them back onto the ground. "Alright then, I'll help you! Let's go hunt down a skeleton!" Undyne said, and grabbed Frisk, thankfully not by the head, and ran as fast as she could before Frisk could object. The moonlight eventually reached them, and Frisk saw Undyne in armor they had never seen before. It was protective yet light, and Undyne could easily move around in it, unlike her heavy full armor. And she had let her hair down. That explained why Frisk didn't recognize her.

A child who wanted to save their friend and a warrior who thought they were hunting him.

This was a disaster waiting to happen.


	5. Odd Pairs are the Only Good Pairs

Toriel tapped her fingers impatiently on her desk, one of her hands stuck firmly in her fur as she stared down at a few documents. Asgore would soon be well enough to help her, but it had felt like a million years, bearing the weight of her royal duties by herself. The monster's queen had become shaken by recent events, and even she didn't know if she could handle it for much longer. "Not in the Underground." She whispered to herself. Both Frisk and Undyne had been missing for about a week now, and she was beyond worried. The humans had stopped attacking New Beginnings for now, but that only meant that they were planning something big. Toriel picked up a bright red pin, standing up and walking up to a map that had been created of the surrounding area around Mount Ebott. "... I don't know why you ran away." She whispered, placing the pin on a spot on the map, marked Bloodstone Falls. "I wanted to protect you... I just hope... That you're safe. I just want this war to be over..." Toriel whispered, before collapsing into her chair, sobbing.

* * *

Sans flicked off an old video camera, tying his scar closer around his neck and pulling his hood farther down on his head. The silence had been killing him. As well as how lonely he had been. The assassin had thought that he didn't need anyone, that people got in the way of his work, but without Toriel or Asgore giving him jobs... He realized just how pointless his life was. A shudder ran through him, and he zipped up his jacket, cursing the damp and cold conditions of the small cave he had holed up in. He couldn't move now, or be found out and hunted down. Sans gritted his teeth, taking the camera and playing the video he had recorded a few days ago. Who could he talk to, but himself? It began to play, his voice reaching his ears. " _day... uh... okay, who gives a shit anymore...?_ " The video displayed himself, softly illuminated by the glow of his magic. " _i heard some monsters talking about a bounty when i went out to look for some food. so, basically, i'm getting hunted down for gold. and i thought humans were the greedy and sick ones... b-but, i'll be fine. i still... have some food left anyways. i'll live. but since nobody but myself will see this, i'm going to say something..._ "

Sans opened his mouth, beginning to talk along with the video, his eye beginning to glow blue. "I miss Alphys, Toriel, Asgore, Frisk... Hell, I even miss Undyne. I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of, and I know it. But I lied to myself when I said that I was better off alone. Sometimes I wish I had ignored the letter I had gotten, pulling me away from my old job as a Royal Scientist. Alphys was my best friend, and I was... I was a complete asshole back in the Core. I wish I could go back in time, but only the kid can do that. I'm going to say something that I don't want you to say to anyone else. And if we ever get out of here alive, then I'll have to destroy this. But..." Sans fell silent, letting the recording speak for him and he raised a hand to shut it off.

" _I wish we were still friends. I wish-_ " Sans hit the power button before his recording could finish, trembling. His bones began to click and rattle together, and he raised his hands up, grabbing the fluff of his hood and pulling it down over his face, letting a choking sob escape from him. For the first time in his life, he had no idea what to do, and it scared him. And if he couldn't be brought back by the kid's resets... He knew what he would have done.

* * *

"Move it, kid!" Undyne bellowed, and Frisk winced, pulling themselves up onto a shelf of rock sticking out from the side of a cliff. They winced, their knees scraped by the stone on the ground, and small pebbles poking into their skin.

"Why... Why are we... Climbing up a cliff?!" Frisk finally managed.

"Listen, Bloodstone Falls is just up there! Did you wanna take the week long hike instead of taking a shortcut?" She asked them.

"... No... But why are we going to the Falls?" Frisk panted, cowering close to the cliffside to ignore the blow of the wind that felt like it would knock them straight off of the rocks.

"Because, with Sans' whole flying on that loud skull thing shtick, he's bound to hole up in hard to reach places. And Bloodstone Falls is perfect! Now take the lead so I can catch you if you slip up!" Undyne commanded them, and they groaned, rubbing their cut hands, before standing up and beginning to climb again, Undyne literally at their heels.

It felt like ages until Frisk pulled themselves up onto actual flat ground, where grass and plants grew, instead of rocks on a cliff edge. Frisk let out a sob of relief, collapsing onto the dirt. Undyne climbed up after them, lifting them farther away from the edge. "My cuts have cuts..." Frisk complained, and Undyne snorted. "So... We're here...?"

"Yup. Let's go drag a skeleton back home and get ourselves a ton of gold!" Undyne laughed, before parading off. Frisk bit their lip, wondering how they could be able to save Sans from Undyne. After all, they were only a kid, and she was a very strong, very angry fish lady who could toss them off the cliff like a ragdoll. Frisk stumbled after Undyne, glancing up at the sun, high in the sky and wincing. It felt like they had been climbing for hours, but it wasn't even close to sundown. A loud, endless crashing sound reached their ears, and they sped up slightly. "They call this place Bloodstone Falls because of the battle that took place here a really long time ago. It sealed the monsters into the state you saw 'em in when you fell into the Underground. They say the stones and water were coated with blood, hence the name. Pretty cool, right?" Undyne explained to them as they walked.

"I didn't know that you were a history teacher, Undyne." Frisk joked.

"Not a history teacher. Just a soldier preserving monster history." She responded honestly. "Anyways-" Undyne summoned a spear and whipped the bushes aside, revealing a large lake, and the mountain's peak, from which water cascaded from like a giant fountain. The lake split off into a few rivers, which Frisk assumed poured off of the cliffs into the valley below them. "We're here." Undyne picked up Frisk and hauled them to the edge of the lake, which they were beyond thankful for. Frisk quickly put their aching hands into the water, their bleeding cuts leaving behind a red trail that was swept into the water. Undyne sat beside them with a sigh, taking the band out of her bright red hair and quickly retying all of her hair back up. "We'll be here for a few days. If he comes here, we'll be ready." Undyne explained to them. "That, and it gives us a chance to relax... Oh! Kid, I got a good idea. Follow me when you're ready." Undyne said, standing up and pushing her way back into the forest that had clustered around the lake and waterfall.

Frisk stood up, wiping their hands on their pants, before following where Undyne had went. As they walked alone after her, they suddenly stopped, swearing they heard something, from not too far off. A strikingly familiar voice. It didn't calm them like Sans' did, but chilled them to the bone. "You've killed them all..." It whispered. Frisk let out a yelp and sprinted through Undyne's trail, until they found themselves slamming into Undyne themselves. The odd thing was, was that Undyne didn't move or acknowledge that Frisk had bumped into her. Rather, she was completely and totally still, staring off into the valley the cliff they stood upon overlooked.

"... I was going to show you the view of Mount Ebott from here... Point you to a few cool places around the mountain..." Undyne whispered, and a shadow fell over them, blocking the sun out. Frisk edged past Undyne cautiously, pulling their hair, which violently whipped in the wind, away from their face to see what she was looking at. "... Hey. Frisk... Did you ever see one of these things when you were still with the humans?" She asked them, and Frisk gasped. For, floating high above the ground in front of the cliffs of Bloodstone Falls, was an...

"... An airship." Frisk whispered. The huge metal hunk in the sky, lifted off of the ground by one large balloon, and propelled by large panels that resembled wings, was armed to the teeth with cannons on its side. The bloated belly of the ship, no doubt, carried human troops. "... Undyne, we need to get back home, now!" Frisk yelped, and Undyne immediately picked them up, gritting her teeth as a spear appeared in her hands. "U-U-Undyne, what are you doing?" They whispered, and Undyne hurled the spear at the airship, a blue line extending from the spear's end. It landed in the ship's hull, and Undyne tugged on the line, testing how it was sticking in. "... Oh. Oh no. Undyne don't you dare-!" Undyne, wrapping the blue line around her wrist, leaped off of the cliff's edge, and Frisk wondered why they ever let themselves go with Undyne.

"HELL FUCKING YES! We're getting home right now, and bringing down this thing at the same time!" She yelled, swinging from the cliff's edge. For a few, terrifying seconds, a child and a fish woman swung through the air, high above the valley floor, looking like they were going to fall at any moment. Frisk looked back to the cliff, and blinked, upon seeing a little white dog eating popcorn alongside a weird looking monster, clothed in bright orange and black. But they couldn't think about that oddity now, because they had slammed against the airship's hull with an extremely painful sounding thunk. "Maybe... I should have thought that out a little better..." Undyne groaned. Frisk held onto her with a death grip, as Undyne let go of the line from the spear to grab onto a window. The fact that the only thing keeping them from falling to their deaths was about an inch of metal on the side of a ship disturbed Frisk. Undyne lifted a hand, creating a spear, and smashing the window's glass to bits. She grabbed Frisk and threw them inside, before climbing in herself. As she dropped unceremoniously to the floor, Frisk was hyperventilating.

"See? That was easy." Undyne said, standing up and brushing herself off.

"Are you INSANE?!" Frisk gasped for breath.

"Yes. Yes I am." She responded, beginning to inspect the area she had busted into. Frisk groaned, rubbing their eyes and standing up slowly. This whole living with monsters thing was going to kill them one day. "... This is a weird place. Looks like a storage room." Frisk looked around at the boxes, recognizing most of the brands. "Maybe we should trash it!" She laughed, and Frisk sighed. "... Yeah, we should just bring this thing down. Let's go!" Undyne commanded, and pulled on the door handle, only for it to not budge. "... Oh." She mumbled. "... Well this is convenient."

"... Are you saying that we're stuck?" Frisk whispered.

"We're very stuck." Undyne said.

"You have got to be kidding me! Bust the door open or something!"

"Do you WANT the entire ship on our heels?" Undyne argued, sighing and beginning to rummage through the boxes. "Luckily, I have a more quiet solution."

"Oh goodie." Frisk mumbled pessimistically. "What are you going to do with this stuff?"

"Duh, it's human armor. There's metal on it, which will take like, only ten spears to beat into a key or a lockpick or something." Undyne answered stiffly.

"Won't that be loud too?"

"By the A-" Undyne began to yell, before taking a deep breath. "... Well, I guess we'll have to sit tight and wait for this thing to land. Then we'll bust out." Undyne said, sitting down. Frisk joined her, pulling out their phone, which had gotten banged up during their travels. Miraculously, it wasn't banged up into useless metal chunks, and had quite a bit of power left. When the tiny screen flickered to life, the notifications were immediately bombarded with unread voicemails and texts from Toriel and Asgore. Whoops. They ignored it, glancing up at Undyne. The side of her that had an eyepatch was on the side they were sitting at. Frisk turned back to their phone, opening up their contact list. It was made up of a mere six people, but it sufficed for what they were going to do. They scrolled down the list, blinking.

\- Alphys

\- Asgore

\- Papyrus

* Sans

\- Toriel

\- Undyne

"... Undyne, I have an idea, but you might not like it." Frisk mumbled, pressing the buttons on their phone until they reached Sans' name.

* * *

"Sans? Hello? Sans...?" Sans stared down at the screen on his phone, listening to Frisk's voice echo about his empty home. He didn't know why Frisk still had his phone number, and he didn't know why he hadn't blocked Frisk's number. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Sans lifted the phone to his ear.

"good to see you're still goin', kid." He said, lifting his usual guise of an easygoing, lazy skeleton back up as he talked. "what do you want...?" Sans asked, rubbing his good eye, which gave off a spark of purple and blue before returning to its normal white form.

"Not sure you're going to like this, bu-" Frisk yelped, and Sans blinked, listening as hard as he could.

"Get us the hell out of here or I'm gonna come and claim your bounty covered ass!" Undyne yelled, making Sans nearly drop his phone in surprise.

"I have a BOUNTY on me?" Sans exclaimed, deciding to gloss over the fact that Undyne had just told him that she wanted to get his ass. He wouldn't have minded anyways because skeletons don't even have asses so her threat was void. "Nevermind, where are you two? And its just you, right?"

"Do you hear anyone else?!" She shouted, and Sans could hear Frisk comment something about being more quiet. "Okay, we're on a human... Er. Airship is what the kid called it."

"The hell is an airship?" Sans asked, putting the phone on his shoulder as he ran to grab his stuff.

"Huge stupid floaty metal human thing in the sky, armed to the teeth with angry humans and lots and lots of weapons, headed straight for Mount Ebott and New Beginnings! It's impossible to miss, and, oh, we were near Bloodstone Falls. Now hurry your sorry ass up before I kick it into space!" Undyne ordered him.

"you really have a thing with my ass today, don't you." Sans asked her jokingly.

"No, no I do... Wait. WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!"

"nothing important. be there in a moment, friendo. but if i manage to get you two out of there you better save me from toriel, awright? vouch for me, get me back in the army, wouldja? i kinda miss not living in this dump." Sans said, picking up an old human device with a tape shoved inside of it, and stuffing it into one of his pockets.

"Deal, just as long as you don't mention the ass thing to Alphys." Undyne said, actually sounding nervous for once.

"what's that supposed to mean?" Was all Sans said, before snapping his phone shut and turning on the thing he had been saving to use for a while, for batteries were hard to come by, and the thing was beyond beaten. Putting on an old pair of headphones and listening to static, crackling music that came through the tiny speakers, he stepped outside. "alright sans, don't you dare screw this up. you don't wanna get mauled by a queen who looks like a goat." Sans laughed, clapping his hands together. In a burst of blue and white magic, a blaster appeared in front of him, and it clicked obediently as he lifted himself onto it, its bird-like beak snapping shut. "hey there bud, sorry i haven't brought you out in a while, horus." He said to it as it raised higher into the air. "don't worry, you and loopy are gonna have a really, really good time today. destination, the sky above new beginnings. can ya manage that for me?" Sans chatted with Horus, his fine tuned aerodynamic blaster, perfect for slicing through the sky at ridiculous speeds. It responded by opening its mouth, sparks of magic spilling out of its beak, and Sans laughed. "good boy." He praised it, a huge smile forming on his face that would surprise anyone who saw him mere hours before the call he received from Frisk and Undyne, as he reached forward, grabbing onto its beak, laying low against its smooth surface. With a boom of magic powered speed, they blasted off into the sky full speed, for a maniacal skeleton and his bird blaster pet had an angry fish woman and a human child to save. He just hoped that Chara wouldn't come back to haunt him right when he needed it the least.


	6. Windfall

Sans held firmly onto Horus' bones, gritting his teeth as he held on for dear life, the winds this high up in the air threatening to blow him straight down into the ground. "faster! come on, horus!" He yelled, and the blaster clicked in obedience, and he flattened himself down as much as possible. It opened its mouth, shooting streams of magic out of its maw, speeding as quickly as possible through the sky. A small bulb in the sky began to appear between the gray clouds, and Sans snorted. That was really all they had? "this is gonna be a piece of cake." He muttered under his breath. "onward to an easy victory!" Sans said, letting go of Horus and tightening his scarf, before grabbing on before he fell off again. He narrowed his eyes, the good eye beginning to glow light blue, surrounding the both of them and boosting their speed.

And only a few more minutes passed, when Sans and Horus stared up at a huge metal hunk in the sky. Their speed had dropped to a measly floating that he would probably use close to the ground. He was so close that he could hear the creaking and whirring of the airship's mechanisms. Sans' eye was glowing dark purple, and Horus, being connected to his master, knew that he was afraid. "... And I thought it would just be a big hot air balloon..." He whispered to himself. He took a deep breath, and gritted his teeth, pulling his hood tightly over his head. "Easy now. We don't want to be spotted... Go to the back." Sans told the blaster, which steered up cautiously towards the back of the airship. The large engine on the back was what they were aiming for. From there, Sans could see where they would be heading and make a plan. Horus kicked up its speed, until finally, they were floating beside it. Sans leaped onto it, landing heavily. "Oh by the Angel why didn't I just teleport?!" He gasped, steadying himself. "... Alright..." He mumbled, snapping his fingers. Horus immediately disappeared, and he edged his way down closer to the main floor of the ship, thinking. He needed to find Undyne and Frisk before they were figured out, and- The voices of human soldiers reached him, and he stood as still as possible, staring down at the floor.

"Nearly there, huh? We're going to wipe out that stupid monster settlement for good!" One of them laughed, and Sans narrowed his eyes. "After we're done with that, we'll easily just flush all of those monsters out for good." He said, and Sans took a deep breath. He needed to contain himself, and keep a low profile, instead of easily blowing up everyone... And alerting everyone to his location.

"Moral's high, and for a good reason. Everyone knows we're winning, especially with these new blimps." The other said, and Sans decided he had had enough of this. As he quickly teleported into the next floor down, it occurred to him that blimp was an inferior name to airship, because blimp just sounded stupid, and an airship sounded like you're sailing in the air, which was badass. Sans began to walk around as quietly as he could, listening hard. He pulled out his phone, quickly messaging Frisk that he was on the airship as he walked. He stared down at the bright little screen, waiting for a message. A beep made him quickly press his fingers against the speakers of his phone, and he read the message as quickly as he could.

 _SG: alright i'm here. this place is insane. where are you?_

 _FH: You didn't see the huge hole Undyne blew in the side of the ship when she went crashing in? Nevermind. We should be at the middle level, if you can find out where they keep storage, we're probably there._

 _FH: AND HURRY THE HELL UP_

 _FH: Sorry that was Undyne._

Well, okay, that was simple enough. But the clock was ticking, and he needed to find them and take down the ship before they got to New Beginnings. Taking down the thing right above the town didn't appeal to him, because it would probably come crashing down in flames, right onto the city. He teleported down another level, deciding to carefully make his way down the levels with the help of his teleportation, because popping out into the sky when he was on the bottom level was definitely not a good idea. He put a hand on his head, suddenly feeling extremely dizzy. Well, he supposed that was what he got for teleporting around too much. Sans took a few deep breaths, before continuing. A map would be nice, but where would he get one of them? He rounded a corner, turning his head to look down the hallway. Sans' eye gave off a spark of purple, and he quickly pulled himself back using his magic. He pinned himself against the wall, holding his breath. Wow there were a lot of guards. From here, he could hear the groaning of the mechanic parts of the airship, and he realized why there were so many people there. If anyone were to get through the door and destroy the entire room... The entire ship would go down! Sans nearly ran in there to blast those guards to pieces, when he remembered Frisk and Undyne. But then again, one of them might have a map...

He took a deep breath, stepping out, a huge smile on his face. He tapped his foot against the floor, and the guards turned in surprise. In a moment, he found himself on a firing line. Sans slowly held his hands up, his eye beginning to glow blue. "alright, alright, no need to be rash..." He said, and he watched as every finger on the triggers of their odd weapons tightened. "hey, hey now, come on." Sans said, putting one of his hands into his pockets, before snapping his fingers. Out of nowhere, blasters appeared all around him, shielding him from the bullets that shot at him. Sans was dead silent, gritting his teeth and wincing at the booms of the weapons. After a few moments, everything became quiet, apart from the clicks and growls from his blasters. He stepped through them slowly, his hands running over the face of the blasters. "Oh no... You poor things..." Sans whispered. "What have they done to you?" He said. They clicked as if to explain what happened, and Sans' eye immediately switched from blue to red. All of the blasters shuddered, knowing he was beyond mad about what they had done to his pets. He slammed his hands onto his ears. "FIRE!" Sans snarled, and all at once, white beams shot through the entire hallway, with a sound louder than the boom of thunder.

* * *

"Undyne, did you hear that?!" Frisk gasped. From the floorboards above, splinters showered down onto them, and Frisk quickly covered their eyes.

"It would be hard not to. I have a feeling that Sans decided to be a little too volatile! Hold on, kid, lets get the hell out before he gets us all killed!" She roared, a blue spear appearing in her hand. She threw it at the door, making a long, jagged crack split into it. Undyne ran up to it, kicking it with her heavy boot, gritting her teeth. It burst open into two pieces, and she quickly scooped up Frisk, bursting out into the hallway, where someone stood, whistling to himself merrily with his blasters staring down at a scrap of paper with him. Undyne would have probably thrown down Frisk in anger if they weren't, you know, alive. "Sans what the hell did you do?" Undyne barked, and Sans yelped in surprise. One of the blasters fired, frying the paper.

Sans shot the thing a dirty look before addressing the two. "oh, uh, hey there you two! sorry about that, i definitely didn't kill anyone or anything." He chatted idly with them, quickly moving a few blasters in place over a few suspiciously red spots with the help of his magic. Undyne raised an eyebrow, and Sans laughed nervously. "wehehell, uhm, good thing about this is that i found you, or rather you found me, i destroyed part of the ship as you can see," He pointed to a gaping hole in the ship that led to a nasty drop into the valley below, "and i found the main powerhouse of the ship. see, there was this engine thingy on the back, but all the energy to that thing is being supplied by this." Sans opened a door, exposing a huge hunk of metallurgy. "... so... am i off the hook or what? ... right?" He said. Undyne merely stepped past him, setting Frisk down gently.

"Sans, you-" Suddenly, sirens blared in their ears, and the entire floor was flushed in red light. "You're a genius and a complete idiot at the same time!" Undyne yelled. "Quick, lets blow this thing and get out!"

"aye aye captain, easily done!" Sans said, grabbing the largest of the blasters, which looked completely different from the others, and shoving it through the door. Its nose bumped into Undyne, and she quickly stepped aside as the huge blaster was pushed into the engine room. "all right lupus, its time for you to do what you do best." He said, patting its forehead. Its huge maw, filled with sharp, long teeth, creaked open, and a white bulb appeared in its mouth. "you might wanna step back a lot!" He said, and Undyne and Frisk quickly scrambled to obey. Sans climbed onto the dog-skull blaster, holding on tightly, a huge smile on his face. "Boom." He whispered, and the orb charging in its mouth immediately blew, sending out a stream of blinding white light, which slammed into the delicate inner workings of the ship, tearing the hard work the humans had put into this thing to bits. After a few moments, the light died out, and Lupus began firing smaller, more precise beams, at other parts of the machinery. Sans quickly slid down from Lupus' forehead, snapping his fingers. A blaster in the shape of a bird's skull appeared, congealing out of blue magic. "Everyone onto it! Lupus will finish all the work, just get on!" He demanded, hopping onto it. An explosion, definitely not fired from Lupus, sounded, and Undyne winced as she climbed on. The ship was beginning to fall apart, and Frisk ran forward, grabbing Sans' hand as the floor fell away from them. His eye began to glow blue, hauling Frisk to safety.

"Will this thing be fast enough to get us out of this?!" Undyne exclaimed. Blue magic immediately bound itself onto Undyne and Frisk, holding them in place atop Horus.

"Saying Horus is fast is like saying that you breath! Hold on tight!" He said, and slammed his hands onto the blaster's snout. It boomed, and immediately got into gear, speeding out of the collapsing airship. While the wind stung Frisk's ears, and they were terrified for their life, they couldn't help but glance back at the opening they had came from. Billowing light brown hair, a glint of red eyes, and a green and yellow shirt caught their eye, and they felt like their heart dropped into their stomach.

"Sans! I think we have a problem!" Frisk shouted over the wind.

"What'd that be?" He called back.

"Shut up and see for yourself!" Undyne bellowed, turning back. It was clear the ship was burning, but that was the least of their problems, as all of the weaponry and the cannons on the ship fired all at once with astonishing timing, right towards them, and above all, the sound of a child laughing could be heard.

"No, no no no, I can't do this again, not again!" Sans said, ducking low and glancing back at the ship. With a flash of red magic, the fire was out, and the hole Sans had blown into the ship had healed itself. Frisk's eyes widened, and they felt tears come to their eyes as they realized what was happening.

"It's Chara." They whispered.


End file.
